Computer Animation Production System
Encyclopedia
The Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) is a proprietary collection of software programs, scanning camera systems, servers, networked computer workstations, and custom desks developed by The Walt Disney Company
together with Pixar
in the late-1980s. Its purpose was to computerize the ink and paint and post-production
processes of traditionally animated
feature film
s produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
s using India ink
or xerographic
technology, and painting the reverse sides of the cels with gouache
paint. Using the CAPS system, enclosed areas and lines could be easily colored in the digital computer environment using an unlimited palette. Transparent
shading, blended colors and other sophisticated techniques could be extensively used that were not previously available.
The completed digital cels were composited over scanned
background paintings and camera and/or pan movements were programmed into a computer exposure sheet simulating the actions of old style animation cameras. Additionally, complex multiplane shots giving a sense of depth were possible. Unlike the analog multiplane camera, the CAPS multiplane cameras were not limited by artwork size. Extensive camera movements never before seen were incorporated into the films. The final version of the sequence was composited and recorded onto film. Since the animation elements exist digitally, it was easy to integrate other types of film and video elements, including three-dimensional computer animation
.
for "The Magical World of Disney" titles. The system's first feature film use was in the production of The Little Mermaid in 1989; however, the use of the system was limited to the farewell rainbow sequence near the end. The rest of the film used traditional painted cels. Subsequent films were made completely using CAPS; the first of these, The Rescuers Down Under
, was the first 100% digital feature film ever produced. Subsequent films, including Beauty and the Beast
, Aladdin, The Lion King
, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame
took more advantage of CAPS' 2D/3D integration. After The Little Matchgirl
, the system has never been used again.
and DVD
versions of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan
, new renders of the original elements were done and recorded to alternate master formats. In addition, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King had newly animated sequences added to their special editions, and both of the IMAX editions and Aladdin had significant cleanup/restoration done on the original digital sequence elements to enhance detail, correct mistakes, and solidify clean-up animation and drawing.
Scientific and Engineering Award. They were:
CAPS was capable of a high level of image quality using significantly slower computer systems than are available today. The final frames were rendered at a 2K digital film
resolution (2048 pixels across at a 1.66 aspect ratio), and the artwork was scanned so that it always held 100% resolution in the final output, no matter how complex the camera motion in the shot.
In 2004, Disney Feature Animation management decided that audiences wanted only 3D computer animated features and closed down their traditional 2D animation department. The CAPS desks were removed and the custom automated scanning cameras were dismantled and scrapped. As of 2005, only one desk system remained (and that was only for the purpose of reading the data for the films that were made with this system).
The acquisition of Pixar
by Disney in 2006—along with the corresponding influx of artists and management, including Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter
—meant that the future of traditional, 2D animation at Disney was subject to change. Pixar prides itself not only on its world-class 3D skills and knowledge, but many of its artists and managers also pay deep homage to traditional, 2D animation, including Lasseter himself, who had experience as a Disney animator prior to co-founding Pixar.
Since the merger with Pixar, Disney has finished production on a new 2D animated film, The Princess and the Frog, released in November 2009. As most of CAPS was shut down and dismantled, and based upon now-outdated hardware and software, Disney's latest traditionally animated productions (How to Hook Up Your Home Theater
, The Princess and the Frog, and the upcoming Winnie the Pooh
) are being produced using Toon Boom Harmony
computer software, which offers an updated, more cost-effective digital animation system. The Toon Boom software had been in use by the DisneyToons Studio subsidiary from 1999 onward.
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
together with Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
in the late-1980s. Its purpose was to computerize the ink and paint and post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
processes of traditionally animated
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
feature film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
CAPS in film production
CAPS was the first digital ink and paint system used in animated feature films, designed to replace the expensive process of transferring animated drawings to celCel
A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate...
s using India ink
India ink
India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...
or xerographic
Xerography
Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938, for which he was awarded on October 6, 1942. Carlson originally called his invention electrophotography...
technology, and painting the reverse sides of the cels with gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
paint. Using the CAPS system, enclosed areas and lines could be easily colored in the digital computer environment using an unlimited palette. Transparent
Transparency (graphic)
Transparency is possible in a number of graphics file formats. The term transparency is used in various ways by different people, but at its simplest there is "full transparency" i.e. something that is completely invisible. Of course, only part of a graphic should be fully transparent, or there...
shading, blended colors and other sophisticated techniques could be extensively used that were not previously available.
The completed digital cels were composited over scanned
Image scanner
In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...
background paintings and camera and/or pan movements were programmed into a computer exposure sheet simulating the actions of old style animation cameras. Additionally, complex multiplane shots giving a sense of depth were possible. Unlike the analog multiplane camera, the CAPS multiplane cameras were not limited by artwork size. Extensive camera movements never before seen were incorporated into the films. The final version of the sequence was composited and recorded onto film. Since the animation elements exist digitally, it was easy to integrate other types of film and video elements, including three-dimensional computer animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
.
Evolution of the system
The first usage of the CAPS process was Mickey standing on Epcot's Spaceship EarthSpaceship Earth (Disney)
Spaceship Earth is the iconic and symbolic structure of Epcot, a theme park that is part of the Walt Disney World Resort. One of the most recognizable structures at the Walt Disney World Resort, it is not only the centerpiece and main focal point of Epcot, but also the name of the attraction housed...
for "The Magical World of Disney" titles. The system's first feature film use was in the production of The Little Mermaid in 1989; however, the use of the system was limited to the farewell rainbow sequence near the end. The rest of the film used traditional painted cels. Subsequent films were made completely using CAPS; the first of these, The Rescuers Down Under
The Rescuers Down Under
The Rescuers Down Under is a 1990 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 16, 1990...
, was the first 100% digital feature film ever produced. Subsequent films, including Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
, Aladdin, The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released to theaters on June 21, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is inspired by Victor Hugo's novel of...
took more advantage of CAPS' 2D/3D integration. After The Little Matchgirl
The Little Matchgirl (film)
The Little Matchgirl is a 2006 animated short film directed by Roger Allers and produced by Don Hahn, who previously were involved in classic Disney animated films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King...
, the system has never been used again.
Special edition editing
For the Special Edition IMAXIMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
versions of Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan
Mulan
Mulan is a 1998 American animated film directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney...
, new renders of the original elements were done and recorded to alternate master formats. In addition, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King had newly animated sequences added to their special editions, and both of the IMAX editions and Aladdin had significant cleanup/restoration done on the original digital sequence elements to enhance detail, correct mistakes, and solidify clean-up animation and drawing.
Significance
In 1992, the team that developed CAPS won an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
Scientific and Engineering Award. They were:
- Randy CartwrightRandy CartwrightRandy Cartwright is an American animator.Randy graduated from UCLA in 1974 where he made his student animated film, Room and Board, which won several awards and was included in the Fantastic Animation Festival...
(Disney) - David B. CoonsDavid CoonsDavid B. Coons is an Academy Award-winning computer graphics professional who is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the title of Po Bronson's The Nudist on the Late Shift, but is also a longtime CGI expert of near-"Pioneer" status.-Biogrphy:...
(Disney) - Lem Davis (Disney)
- Thomas Hahn (Pixar)
- James Houston (Disney)
- Mark Kimball (Disney)
- Dylan W. Kohler (Disney)
- Peter Nye (Pixar)
- Michael Shantzis (Pixar)
- David F. Wolf (Disney)
- Walt Disney Feature Animation DepartmentWalt Disney Feature AnimationWalt Disney Animation Studios is an American animation studio headquartered in Burbank, California. The studio, founded in 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio by brothers Walt and Roy Disney, is the oldest subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
CAPS was capable of a high level of image quality using significantly slower computer systems than are available today. The final frames were rendered at a 2K digital film
Digital cinematography
Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital images, rather than on film. Digital capture may occur on video tape, hard disks, flash memory, or other media which can record digital data. As digital technology has improved, this practice has become increasingly common...
resolution (2048 pixels across at a 1.66 aspect ratio), and the artwork was scanned so that it always held 100% resolution in the final output, no matter how complex the camera motion in the shot.
In 2004, Disney Feature Animation management decided that audiences wanted only 3D computer animated features and closed down their traditional 2D animation department. The CAPS desks were removed and the custom automated scanning cameras were dismantled and scrapped. As of 2005, only one desk system remained (and that was only for the purpose of reading the data for the films that were made with this system).
The acquisition of Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
by Disney in 2006—along with the corresponding influx of artists and management, including Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter
John Lasseter
John Alan Lasseter is an American animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is also currently the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering....
—meant that the future of traditional, 2D animation at Disney was subject to change. Pixar prides itself not only on its world-class 3D skills and knowledge, but many of its artists and managers also pay deep homage to traditional, 2D animation, including Lasseter himself, who had experience as a Disney animator prior to co-founding Pixar.
Since the merger with Pixar, Disney has finished production on a new 2D animated film, The Princess and the Frog, released in November 2009. As most of CAPS was shut down and dismantled, and based upon now-outdated hardware and software, Disney's latest traditionally animated productions (How to Hook Up Your Home Theater
How to Hook Up Your Home Theater
How to Hook Up Your Home Theater is a 2007 theatrical cartoon from Walt Disney Animation Studios, directed by Kevin Deters and co-directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton. This is the first theatrical Goofy solo cartoon short made in 46 years, since Aquamania...
, The Princess and the Frog, and the upcoming Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh (2011 film)
Winnie the Pooh is a 2011 American animated musical children's family film inspired by the A. A. Milne stories of the same name. The film is a reboot of Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise and is the fifth theatrical Winnie the Pooh film released and the second from the Walt Disney Animation...
) are being produced using Toon Boom Harmony
Toon Boom Animation
Toon Boom Animation Inc. is a Canadian software company that specializes in animation production software. Founded in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec, Toon Boom develops animation and storyboarding software for film, television, web animation, games, mobile devices, and training applications...
computer software, which offers an updated, more cost-effective digital animation system. The Toon Boom software had been in use by the DisneyToons Studio subsidiary from 1999 onward.